Design and development of an inspection robot for deep tunnel sewage system (DTSS)

Author

Pei, Wen Hua

Date of Issue

2016

School

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Research Centre

Robotics Research Centre

Abstract

Proper water supply and drainage system is an essential part of many countries. Thus government put in a large amount of capital to establish them. However erosion and climate change can cause damage to it so maintaining their functionality and extending their life expectancy is important. Traditional way of manual inspection and maintenance is not only slow but inefficient and dangerous to human.
In-pipe robots created to inspect and clean pipes that are inaccessible for human have a larger market compared to big sewer robots for big sewage pipe; 1.2 metres or larger. Hence little research had been done on big sewer robots. Among these researches, none of them can be used directly in Singapore’s sewage system due to manhole entrances in Singapore being too small; 60 x 60cm.
Therefore this project focuses on the design and development of a big sewer robot for sewage pipe of 3 metres or larger for inspection only. The robot should have the flexibility to be adjusted to fit into our local manhole entrance, be deployed into the sewage with an extended width for stability and kept into a much smaller size for the ease of transportation.
At the beginning of this project, the conceptual and detail design of the robot platform will be described. Then the material selection and cost estimation will be presented after the detail design. Thereafter the building and testing of the prototype platform will be presented.
The legs of the prototype platform that has been built can be open and locked to 90°, 120° or 150° on both sides. This allows the platform to increase in width so that its wheels can get onto the side of the pipe wall, and elevated the whole platform higher away from the wastewater and debris underneath the sewer pipe. Besides that, the platform legs can be folded and be kept into a very compact size for the ease of transportation.